Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Daniel Voronel Rose Hills

Identifying Heirloom Tomato Strains Resistant to Race 1 P. Syringae

Pseudomonas syringae Race 1 strain (R1T1) is one of the most prevalent plant pathogens and is known to cause severe loss in worldwide crop yield. In order to cause infection, P. syringae utilizes the type III secretion system to inject particles known as “effectors” into the host cell cytoplasm. The effectors work to suppress the immunity of the host cell and cause disease. For modern cultivars of tomatoes, resistance to P. syringae has been hard to come by. Many modern cultivars have been subject to genetic alteration and it’s possible that through these changes, resistance to a pathogen like P. syringae R1T1 could have been lost. Heirloom tomatoes, on the other hand, have undergone far less genetic alterations. This means that heirlooms possess a much larger genetic variation compared to modern cultivars. Heirloom tomatoes could hold the key for discovering the pathway for resistance to P.syringae and understanding this mechanism could prove crucial to preventing future outbreaks for all tomato cultivars.



Message To Sponsor

I want to take the time and thank (donor) for their contribution toward my research project. It is with your support and generosity that I was able to pursue my interest in science and reach my research goals. I am deeply grateful for your belief in my work and cannot wait to showcase what your support has enabled.
Major: Microbial Biology
Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Lewis
Sponsor: SURF Rose Hills
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